


Maybe What Happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily have to stay in Vegas

by Leafontehwind



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, F/M, Fear of Heights, Human AU, It’s mostly just Derek and Stiles, Las Vegas, M/M, Multi, No Supernatural stuff mentioned at all, meet cute, others are mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-09 01:56:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16440830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leafontehwind/pseuds/Leafontehwind
Summary: The Beacon Hills crew head out to Las Vegas for Lydia and Jackson’s joint bachelor/bachelorette the weekend before their nuptials. Stiles is feeling a bit third (or fifth) wheel. It doesn’t help that the New York, New York rollercoaster is a two seater— at least if it was three he could sit with one of the couples.Except, maybe it’s for the best when he hears someone behind him say softly in his ear “I’m afraid of roller coasters.”AKA— The one were Derek is afraid of heights but determined to get on the rollercoaster. And... will maybe.. ask the stranger seated beside him if he can hold his hand.





	Maybe What Happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily have to stay in Vegas

**Author's Note:**

> Just a warning, half of this I wrote in the airport during a seven hour delay and as this is not beta’d— I apologize for any mistakes.

Stiles didn’t mind being the third wheel. Not always. Not most of the time. Well... okay that was a lie. He’d hated being the third wheel with the passion of a thousand suns. Sure, he was happy for all his respective couple friends and was immensely happy for their... happiness. He just, and sure maybe this would make him seem like an asshole but... okay, honestly, he could be happier for them if he had his own slice of happiness. Maybe his own, I don’t know, disgustingly sappy romantic relationship that made everyone else sickeningly jealous. It wasn’t too much to ask for, right? 

Well, whatever. Stiles was content with being the third or fifth wheel, at least is friends still wanted him around. They still included him in their plans and only sometimes gave him pity looks when booking certain things like couples massages (he so did not need to be around Scott, Kira, Isaac, Allison, Danny, Ethan, Lydia and Jackson after all that blissful muscle kneeding and... well, what he could only assume was several happy endings in many, many different positions). There was only so much afterglow you could observe and exist in the same space as your friends (and basically brother) before you wanted to claw your own eyes out.

But, really, he was happy for them. They found their humans and he was resigning himself to he life of being their perpetually single friend. Which, brought him to where he was today. In Vegas for Lydia and Jackson’s last hurrah before they got married. He wasn’t sure why they picked Las Vegas for their joint bachelorette and bachelor party; but, hey, he wasn’t complaining either. Last night he was able to see the Thunder From Down Under and then made it over to Coyote Ugly (man those girls could dance). It was fun, alcohol was flowing, the food was great (how many different brunch places could he hit in four days? It was a challenge he was willing to take) and he didn’t feel all that lonely for being the only single one in his immediate party.

They decided to go on the rollercoaster at New York, New York. Sure, it was silly and probably not the best rollercoaster, but, it was something to do and it was something they could check off of their list— Lydia was probably keeping one, ensuring she did everything that she deemed that they absolutely must do. It wasn’t until they got through the first line to the roller coaster that he realized that he was going to be riding alone. Which, okay, not really a big deal but he would have killed for the souvenir picture of him and Scott making ridiculous faces. But... no, Scott was hardcore making out with Kira in the row in front of him, waiting to get on the next ride. Stiles sighed and turned his head the opposite way, willing the loneliness to go away; at least until he could get his next frozen margarita. It wasn’t as coping mechanism per se, but, he was in Vegas. And when in Vegas...

“I’m afraid of roller coasters.” The voice was soft and quiet, if it hadn’t been said directly in his ear, Stiles wouldn’t have thought it was meant for him to hear. He turned to the side and he could feel his eyebrows quirk in question. The man behind him was more or less his height, broader in the shoulders and arms with a five a’clock shadow Stiles would be envious until he was at least thirty-five. His gorgeous eyes bored into Stiles and left his mouth dry for moment while he took everything in.

The man turned to look over his shoulder at a blonde woman with candy apple red lipstick who was nodding enthusiastically and giving the man a thumbs up as she stood to the side of the queue for the rollercoaster.

“Okay...? Doesn’t seem like a good idea to be here if you don’t want to go on the ride. But I promise, its honestly not that bad,” Stiles glanced back to where the last car was stopping, letting the passengers off while they whooped and cheered after their ride was over.

“No, I,” The man looked back and the woman and rolled his shoulders back, steeling himself. “I want to go on the ride. I’m just afraid of heights.”

Stiles smiled to himself as the gates opened and walked to the furthest seat, very much amused at his riding companion. He sat down and pulled the harness over his shoulders and then pulled the second one down to reset over his stomach. “See, it’s not really the height that gets me, its the plummeting to our untimely death that scares me. Not! Not that that would happen to us. Um...We’ll be fine, it will be fine.”

“No it won’t,” One of the operators said with a shark like smile, peering down at them with a strange intensity that Stiles for one did not appreciate. 

“Don’t say that,” Stiles glanced back at the man beside him who had visibly paled at the comment. “This ride hasn’t had any malfunctions or deaths— I looked it up.” The tips of his ears were turning red and Stiles had to bite the inside of his cheek in order not to smile or burst out laughing. This dude was completely adorable. Stiles wondered how long he had been working up to this, if he ever rode any rollercoasters or what. 

“You sure you want to try this again Der? Last time you almost made it. You got ten seconds left to chicken out. I say this outta love, but I don’t think today’s the day.” The woman, Laura according to her name tag, sighed dramatically before moving on to check other rider’s safety bars.

“I can do this,” Der— was that short for Derek?— said to himself quietly before turning his attention back to Stiles. “I... I’m not a big thrill seeker, but this is on my bucket list. Laura,” he gestured towards the woman before tugging down his shoulder restraints and pushing them up to see if it had locked. “She’s my sister. She gets the ticket refunded when I don’t go through with it. But I am this time. I just... I’m sorry if I—“

Stiles grinned ruefully, finding it hard not to find this man completely endearing, “Scream? Cry? It’s all a part of the deal. No worries.”

“No, uh,” the car started to slowly move forward, Derek’s eyes went wide for a moment as he looked forward and then back toward Stiles. “Can I hold your hand? Mostly just when we’re going up the first drop, I think it would really help.”

Stiles could see Scott turn around partially in his seat, a question on his features as he was clearly overhearing the conversation. Stiles decided to ignore his brother from another mother and focused on the man beside him. And, really, what could it hurt? The man was hella attractive and adorably nervous— hell, even if he wasn’t hot like burning, Stiles would probably still say yes. He was paying it forward, being kind to his fellow human being and that could only bring him good karma...right? At the very least he would get an amusing anecdote.

He shrugged, or, well, tried to despite the safety restraints, and offered Derek a bright smile, “Yeah man, of course. Mi mano es su mano.” What the fuck was he saying? Whatever, he couldn’t be completely embarrassing himself as the man beside chin ducked his head, the tips of his ears turning red. Fuck, he was adorable.

“Gracias, eres demasiado amable,” The car jolted to the right, Stiles could see Derek’s knuckles turn white as he gripped the shoulder restraints, pressing it down to click tighter over his shoulders. Confirmed note to self, Stiles thought hoping it’s didn’t show on his face, being biligual was totally hot; muy caliente. Fuck imagine if he was trilingual? Stiles would be so screwed. And probably not in the way he’d want to be.

Stiles bit his lip, sliding his hand down to hand between their shoulder restraints palm facing skyward. Derek let out a breath of relief and shakily took the proffered hand. He slotted their fingers together and added a small amount of pressure; Stiles liked to think it was a gentle thank you for his act of kindness. See? He could be magnanimous.

“Here we go,” Scott yelled from the seat in front of him, waving his hands in the air above him as they started to climb the first and biggest of the few drops. Stiles let out a whoop to share his excitement with his friends, waving his free hand in the air and glancing around the strip.

“Wow, this is an awesome view. I thought it was impressive from the ground but... damn.” He chanced a glance at Derek who was taking measured breaths in and out, his eyes cast downward. Stiles wondered if this was some sort of bucket list thing for the man, or if he was just trying to challenge himself. Stiles wanted to know exactly what his motivation was for all of this. It wasn’t something he could get in the next two minutes or so. Since when in the history of ever did someone wish that a rollercoaster ride could last a half an hour? At least if the line was longer and they had the wait, maybe then Stiles could have talked to the man more. 

“Hey, you okay?” He offered a squeeze to the other man’s fingers. “Listen, I‘m right here, it’s gonna be fine and then you can rub in Laura’s face that you went through with it and she can suck it.”

Derek huffed out a laugh, looking over to Stiles through his eyelashes with a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Yeah, okay.”

There was no more time to talk as they were starting to slowly go over the first big drop. Stiles held onto the handle of his safety restrain with his free hand and did his best to push his neck back against the headrest like the signs in line said. He didn’t think Derek made a sound next to him and Stiles found himself glancing over as much as he was able to ensure the man wasn’t having a panic attack or something (not that he could really help him until after the ride but Stiles still felt like it was something he had to do. Was compelled to do.

By the time that they rolled to a jerking stop, Stiles let out a loud, brash laugh. The adrenaline coursing through his veins and his heartbeat pounding in his ears. He turned towards his riding companion and felt out of breath at the blinding smile he found himself on the receiving end of. God, this man was even more stunning when he smiled.

“Thank you, for... you know,” Derek gestured with his free hand toward the ride as best he could. Neither one of them made a move to unlink their fingers, Stiles couldn’t help but think about this point of contact. How the warm slide of their palms felt against one another, how their fingers fit together. “I don’t think I could’ve done this without you. You’re amazing.”

Stiles swallowed around a lump in his throat willing his eyes not to drop to Derek’s warm and honestly blinding smile. His tongue darted out to wet his lips before he offered a warm smile of his own. “No sweat. I bet you would’ve done the same thing if our roles were reversed.”

It felt like minutes before the car came to a stop and their harnesses clicked, signifying that it was time to exit the ride. Which, unfortunately, meant that they had to let go of each other’s hands. Stiles felt his cheeks grow warm and he hoped that it would seem like it was from the ride, not from the insta-crush he was now sporting for the man he met not even five minutes ago. “Let’s look a the photo,” he stood up and followed Derek out of the car and gestured towards the stand with several monitors. “Clearly you want proof that you did it right? Pictures or it didn’t happen?”

They sidled up to the booth, looking around at the monitors until Derek tapped him on the shoulder and pointed out the particular monitor with their picture displaced. Their heads were turned towards each other, both of them smiling and their clasped hands clearly visible between them.

“Wow, we look... yeah. Great photo, we’ll take two copies.” Stiles said to the man behind the counter, his name tag reading Boyd, his eyes darting between Stiles and Derek for a moment before turning back the computer. Stiles wondered if Derek knew him too; seemed like he knew everyone who worked at the ride. It made sense with his sister working here and the challenge of getting over his aversion to heights. “It’ll just be two minutes.”

“Awesome.” Stiles smiled widely, drumming his fingers on the counter.

“So,” Derek started, clearing his throat, causing Stiles to turn towards him. “How long are you in Vegas?”

The younger man lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck, glancing over his shoulder to where his friends had headed off into the gift shop. If Scott got one more knickknack for Melissa, he was going to have to have a stern talking to. But, talking to this man was clearly more important. He could yell at Scott later for his frivolous spending habits later.

“Just the long weekend before flying back home to Cali— my friends are getting married and next weekend is their combo bachelorette/bachelor hurrah.” Stiles lifted his hands to waggle his fingers at Derek, getting as close to what he thought were jazz fingers as possible. “Uh, what about you? Your sister works here, are you guys local?”

Derek shook his head, “No, Laura moved out here after college. It was supposed to be the start of her seeing the world but then she got married— She writes online but likes to work here when she can, says it keeps her in tune with the masses.”

“Is her next article going to be how to overcome fear and grab life by the balls featuring a heartfelt quote from her dearest brother? At least your photogenic. I usually look slightly unhinged in posing for photos, smile too big or too forced. You should see my school photos.”

The dark haired man chuckled, revealing dimples underneath his beard that Stiles found so goddamn endearing for some reason. “No, she would never write about me. Not enough civil rights or politics in my life.”

“Here you are,” Boyd held out two small clear plastic bags that contained their photos. “On the house. Congrats Derek.”

Stiles glanced over toward his riding companion just in time to see the tips of his ears get red in what he assumed was embarrassment. “Wow, that’s really nice of you guys. Have a great day!” He bumped Derek’s shoulder companionably, trying to non-verbally ask the man to follow him down the stairs. 

“Any plans after this?” The brown haired man asked as non-chalantly as he could. He didn’t even know if Derek was interested in that way. Sure, he was good enough to hold his hand in fear but to hang out? Date? Hell, he still didn’t even know where he lived, Stiles could not do long distance. Wait.... what? He hadn’t even gotten up the nerve to ask him out yet and he was already fast forwarding to a relationship? What was wrong with him?

Derek gestured for him to enter the gift shop before him, and, no, for your information that did not make Stiles heart skip a beat or imagine swooning like a regency era heroine. “Not really, that was pretty much what I had planned for today. At least until Laura and the gang’s shift is over in,” he lifted his left arm to glance at his watch. “Five hours.”

“Yikes,” he paused for a moment, cringing before continuing through the shop towards the exit near the arcade. “Well, I seem to have lost my friends, so if you want to grab a bite or something we could. Unless you have your heart set on the penny slots— I am so not a gambler. The free drinks, I can get behind but... I gave myself a $20 limit and lost it in under five minutes. Lady Luck? Not really on my side. Right... so food? No pressure.” Stiles pursed his lips together, willing his penchant to ramble on to cut the shit since he was probably looking like a grade-A moron in front of the hot, adorable, acrophobic (thank you for that google search when he was in the third grade so he could write about different phobias) man following him.

“Do you like burgers and shakes? There’s a place not far from here. Erica has been trying to get me to try the alcoholic milkshakes my entire trip,” They paused at the jelly bean sculpture of the Statue of Liberty, Stiles spared a glimpse at it still trying to calculate how long that would have taken someone to make. Derek let out a huff of amused exasperation. “But that usually means she’s going to order shots for the whole table and I can’t compete with her tolerance.”

“Ah, so you’re willing to risk her wrath for little ol’ me,” Stiles grinned, mentally thanking whatever deity that would grant him to have more time with this man.

The other man stared at him for a moment, his eyes searching Stiles’ face causing his neck to grow warm under the close attention. “Absolutely.”

Stiles ducked his head and looked at Derek through his eyelashes, unable to keep a pleased smile off of his face. There was a warmth in his chest that he felt could be possibility, the chance of a new opportunity sparking between the two of them. “Alright, lead the way dude.”

“You now,” the younger man started as they walked, their shoulders brushing as they walked down the hallway. Stiles was feeling brave and a little giddy, so he glanced at Derek out of the corner of his eye. “If you are scared of anything else, feel free to hold my hand for support.”

Derek stopped short, his face blank as he stared at Stiles. Which, fuck, was that too soon to joke about? Stiles was going for flirty but he knew that you shouldn’t make fun of anyone’s fears or hang ups. The darker haired man took a step closer and leaned in to whisper in Stiles’ ear. “You know, I’m terrified of those claw games.”

Letting out a loud laugh, Stiles turned his gaze towards the row of claw games that lined the hallway out of the arcade. He missed the warmth of Derek’s breath against his ear and neck as the man stepped back, leaning out of his personal space before lacing their fingers together and continuing on their way towards their destination.

**Author's Note:**

> So, fun fact. I was in Vegas for my friend’s wedding and this happened to me. Not the asking her out or anything. But she was super nervous, asked to hold my hand and thanked me afterwards. Of course, as everything in my life, I thought of the OTPs (and also discussing this at length via text across the country) and how cute it would be if this was their meet cute. So... viola! The people working there did tease her that it wasn’t going to be fine too. Not sure if they knew her but, it was an experience. :D 
> 
> And Thunder from Down Under was still amazing (this was my second time seeing them).
> 
> Hope you enjoyed my little foray back into the fandom instead of just lurking in the shadows and devouring fics. TTFN.


End file.
